The 63,000-square foot building will include a 367-seat recital hall, a rooftop performance terrace, studios, classrooms, recording studios, a library, and other public spaces. Cyril Harris, an acoustician who has worked on the Metropolitan Opera House, the Kennedy Center, Avery Fisher Hall, and other major buildings, is responsible for the sound design.

Ground was broken at a ceremony last month; construction is scheduled to take approximately two years.

The Pennsylvania Academy of Music trains young musicians from Pennsylvania and around the country and the world. Graduates have gone on to the Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, and Eastman School of Music.